Bill Gates drops $105m in Arizona to build a futuristic ‘smart city’

Tech billionaire Bill Gates has invested over $105 million (US$80 million) in a huge expanse of land near Phoenix, Arizona with plans to transform it into a ‘smart city’.

It’s a natural progression, really. If you were worth a reported $118 billion (US$90 billion) and could buy anything you wanted, we’re sure private jets and million-dollar mansions would get a little old. Why not buy land to create the basis for a future city?

Bill Gates. Image: Getty.

The proposed planned community is the perfect intersection of Gates’ interests in philanthropy and technology.

The 25,000 acres of unpopulated desert was purchased through Belmont Partners (an investment firm run by Gates), located 45 minutes west of Phoenix.

The cofounder of the Microsoft Corporation plans to name the master-planned city Belmont, and “will transform a raw, blank slate into a purpose-built edge city built around a flexible infrastructure model,” say Belmont Partners in their announcement.

If successful, Belmont could become a template for the development of sustainable, cutting-edge cities of the future.

Arizona. Image: Matt Howard / Unsplash

How will it look? The city will have a “communication and infrastructure spine that embraces cutting-edge technology,” says Belmont Partners, designed around high-speed digital networks, data centres, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, driverless vehicles, and autonomous logistics hubs.

There will be space for 80,000 residential units for a projected population of 182,000. There is also around 3,800 acres devoted to office, commercial, and retail space, with 470 acres set aside for public schools.

The city sits nearby the proposed route of the Interstate 11 freeway, which will connect the state capital and Las Vegas if it goes ahead.

This isn’t the first – and certainly won’t be the last – planned city in the works. Belmont is the latest to be announced, but Google's sister company Sidewalk Labs recently unveiled plans to construct an entire new future city on the Toronto waterfront. South Korea have already completed a hi-tech satellite city called Songdo.